Legislative Update

In December, Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and since then over 175 companies have announced pay raises, bonuses, additional benefits or new investments in the American economy. Over 3 million workers are seeing the effects of tax reform in their paychecks, including the employees of Charlie Bravo Aviation right here in Georgetown, Texas.

Here are just a few of the Texas companies that are reaping the benefits of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act:

Over half of the full-time non-salaried employees of the Amarillo National Bank are getting a $1,000 pay raise

American Airlines based out of Fort Worth will be doling out $1,000 bonuses due to tax reform

Dallas-based AT&T will be investing $1 billion into the United States’ economy in 2018 and will be handing out $1,000 bonuses to 200,000 AT&T U.S. employees

Texas’ own Insperity will pay out $17 million in bonuses to their employees

34,000 employees at Waste Management will receive a $2,000 bonus

In addition to the bonuses and pay raises, beginning this February, 90% of Americans will take home more money in their paychecks. Despite what Democrats say, this money means a lot to families that are living paycheck to paycheck.

Recently, I joined my colleagues in introducing the Secure America’s Future Act. This bill addresses shortcomings along our southern border with 5,000 additional Border Patrol agents and authorizes border wall construction. This legislation also strengthens our interior enforcement efforts by increasing criminal penalties for deported criminals that return to the U.S., requiring the use of E-verify, and implements a biometric system at all ports of entry. It’s important that we address border security before addressing larger immigration reforms.

I also introduced the Justice Served Act in January. For the last decade, Congress has invested over $100 million a year to reduce the DNA backlog, but now funds are needed to prosecute these criminals based on results of DNA evidence. My bipartisan legislation will reform the Debbie Smith grant to allow funding to be used for prosecution purposes, hopefully getting dangerous criminals off the streets and giving peace of mind to the victims and their families.

​Unfortunately, in January the federal government shutdown for three days due to Senate democrats’ reckless decision to put illegal immigrants above our military and low-income children in need. The Schumer Shutdown was completely irresponsible. During a government shutdown, our military men and women go unpaid. It’s completely ridiculous that our troops work without pay while Congress continues to receive their salary, so I requested that my pay be withheld for the length of the government shutdown. Luckily, Senate democrats came to their senses and voted to fund the government through February 8th.